Welder&#39;s glove



United States Patent 0 3,374,487 WELDERS GLOVE Morris L. Slimovitz, P.O. Box 219, Newbern, Tenn. 38059 Filed Feb. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 613,841 1 Claim. (Cl. 2-7-161) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE ward forces exerted on the glove being sufiicient to overcome the retention forces of the Velcro so that the cuff of the glove will automatically expand to its full size so that the glove may be slung off without requiring the use of the other hand to release fastener devices such as are conventionally employed for retaining the cuff of a glove in snug engagement with the sleeve of a garment of The present invention generally relates to a welders glove and more specifically, such a glove having a relatively large cuff such that it permits easy entry and exit of the hand of the person wearing the glove and extends into overlying relation to a substantial portion of the wrist so that the sleeve of a garment such as a shirt or jacket worn by a welder will be received within the open end of the cuff. Specifically, the glove has a fastener assembly in the cuff in the form of strips of a flexible plush fabric having hooks and loops such as Velcro which retains the large periphery of the cuff in collapsed snug embracing condition in relation to the arm or wrist of the wearer with the Velcro enabling easy removal of the glove without requiring that the other hand of the wearer of the glove manipulate fastening devices which are conventionally employed on cuffs which are snugged around the wrist of a wearer.

An object of the present invention is to provide a glove for welders having a large cuff retained in condition for snugly embracing the wrist area of a wearer so that the glove will normally be retained on the hand of the wearer and by snugly engaging the wrist area of the wearer, foreign material, such as hot pieces of metal produced when welding, will not be capable of falling into the normally enlarged cuff.

It is a further object of the invention to provide such a glove in which the fastening material enables the glove to be slung off the hand without requiring the other hand to manipulate fastening elements in the event it is necessary to rapidly remove the glove such as might occur if a hot piece of metal enters the glove even though the cuff may be snugged around the wrist area of the wearer thereby enabling the wearer of the glove to quickly and rapidly remove the glove without requiring the use of the other hand so that the possibility of injury due to hot metal particles entering the glove is materially reduced since the glove and any hot metal particles therein may be quickly slung off of the hand.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide a glove which is simple in construction, easy to use, effective for its particular purposes and relatively inexpensive to manufacture.

These together with other objects and advantages which Patented Mar. 26, 1968 will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the glove construction of the present invention illustrating the normally en larged cuff thereof snugged around the sleeve of a garment worn by a welder illustrating the structural features of the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the glove with portions of the outwardly flared corner of the cuff being broken away to illustrate the orientation of the Velcro strip thereon;

FIGURE 3 is a detailed sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 33 of FIGURE 2 illustrating the structural details of the fastening strip; and

FIGURE 4 is a transverse, sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing along section line 44 of FIGURE 1 illustrating further structural details of the glove and its association with the wrist portion of the arm of the wearer.

Referring now specifically to the drawings, the glove of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10 and includes a front panel 12 which overlies the palm of the hand, a back panel 14 which overlies the back of the hand and a thumb stall 16 connected thereto which may be constructed for use on either hand as disclosed in my prior Patent No. 2,617,109 or may be of conventional construction and constructed of conventional material and may include individual finger stalls or may be of the mitten type inasmuch as the hand enclosing portion of the glove is conventional and forms no particular part of the present invention except that this portion of the glove must necessarily be easily inserted onto the hand and easily removed therefrom.

Extending from the wrist edges of the front panel 12, back panel 14 and the thumb stall 16 is an elongated cuff 18 constructed of canvas material or other conventional materials employed in wide cuff gloves of the type which enlarge peripherally in a direction away from the hand enclosing portion of the glove. Conventional stitching 20 may be employed for securing the cuff 18 to the hand enclosing portion and a binding tape 22 is provided for the large edge of the cuff 13 and other stitching provided for securing the front and back portions of the cuff together by using longitudinal seams as is conventional will be employed. In fact, the structnre of the hand enclosing portion and the structure of the cuff insofar as described to this point is concerned is completely conventional in construction and may be constructed of various well known materials normally employed in constructing work gloves, industrial gloves or the like.

FIGURE 1 illustrates the glove 10 worn by a welder gripping the usual electrode clamp 24 having the usual conductor 26 attached thereto and having a Welding electrode 28 secured therein in a conventional manner. One of the problems existent in this field is the problem of hot metal fragments produced when welding bouncing jumping or falling into the open end of the cuff 18 and causing injury to the wrist area of the arm or the hand itself. This especially is a problem when wearing relatively large cuffed gloves which are desirable to prevent burns and injury due to hot metal fragments bouncing against the wrist area of the wearer which would occur if relatively short elastic fabric cuffs were employed. Thus, the use of the relatively large cuffs 18 has been accepted by welders for the protective aspects thereof but such cuffs also act somewhat as a funnel for hot metal fragments.

In view of the problem of protecting the wrist area of the wearer for a relatively long distance and the fact that fragments into the cuff and glove. However, the glove some effort has been made .to solve this problem by snugging the relatively elongated cuff 18 around the wrist area of the wearer. Such devices have included the use of belts or straps which wrap around the .cuff and are provided with suitable buckle connectors so that the cuff may be reduced in peripheral dimension. Other attempts to solve'this problem have involvedthe use ofbuttons, hooks, snap fasteners and other type of connectors for enabling-the cuff to be enlargedso that it permits passage of the hand when the glove is being placed on the hand or removed therefrom. However, such fastening devices that have previously been employed, while enabling enlargement of the cuff are of sucha nature that to release the fastening devices, the use "of the other hand of the wearer is necessaryto either manipulate the fastener or otherwise disconnectingthe fastener arrangement to enable the hand to be withdrawn through the cuff- This becomes necessary because even with -the'cuff in snug engagement with the wrist portion of the wearer or with the sleeve 30 of a wearer, hot metal fragments still will sometimes accidentally become lodged within the interior of the cuff or fall into the interior of the glove and in some instances hot metal fragments will burn through the hand covering portion of the glove or the cuff and subsequently burn the hand or adjacent area-of the wearer. When this occurs, if the glove and the hot metal fragmentor. fragments disposed therein cannot be rapidly removed, a rather painful and dangerous burn injury may occur. In practical use of the large cuff gloves, it is conventional procedure for a welder to sling off his glove when a hot metal fragmententers the cuff thereof. with this being a quite rapid operation such that any burn injury will be retained at a minimum severity. Even when welders are provided with gloves having mechanical fastening devices, they frequently leave the fastening devices separated' or inoperative in view of their desire to be able to rapidly sling off the glove in the event the hand becomes hot for any reason whatsoever including contact of hot metal fragments on the outer surface of the glove, cuff or entry of such fragments into the free end of the cuff.

The problem of delay in releasing the positive type fasteners now employed has been expeditiously solved in this invention by providing strips 32 and 34 of a fastening material known as Velcro with the strip 32 preferably being the male strip having very small hooks thereon and the strip 34 being the female strip and provided with velvet-like loops for interengagement with'the hooks 32. This type of material is well known and is commercially available and is disclosed in prior Patent No. 3,009,235 issued November 1961. The strips of fastener material 32 and 34 are secured to the inner surface of the cuff 18 by suitable stitching 36 or any other suitable manner such as by using an adhesive material or the like. As illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 3, the strips 32 and 34 are disposed adjacent the outer end of the cuff 18 with the strip 32 being on one panel of the cuff and the strip 34 being on the other panel of the cuff with the strips 32 and '34 being normally disposed in diverging relation as illustratedin FIGURE 3 so that the cuff 18 may be enlarged to enable ingress and egress of the hand. After the glove has been placed on the hand, it is then only necessary to squeeze the strips 32 and 34 together along with the panels of the cuff 18 so that the strips 32 and 34 will c0- operate with each other tov secure the panels of the cuff 18 into adjacent relation so that the free, edge of the cuff will be snugged about the sleeve 30 of the wearer thereby serving to effectively prevent entry of hot metal can be readily slung off the hand in the event it is desired to rapidly remove the glove such as due to overheating of the hand or a hot metal fragment burning through the glove or cuff or even if a hot metal fragment enters the snugged cuff. In this event, the wearer will move his hand in the normal mannerthat he would employ to sling off a conventionaljglove. The forces exerted by the weight of the glove and the arcuate movement thereof will exert a lateral foutwardv forceon the strips 32 and 34 as the glove and cuff endeavor to move'oif the hand thereby causing the strips 32 and 34 of Velcro to separate and enable the-cuff 1 8, to assume its larger size so that it may easily move off of the hand during the slinging operation thereby eliminating the necessity of the other hand of the welder to manipulate or release fastening devices-which would require considerable delay which may cause a more serious injury. r Thus, with this type of construction, the'gloveis considerably' more safe in that the-cuff may be snugged around the wrist or sleeve of the wearer and at'the same time, the glove may be slung off of thehand insubstantially the same manner'as a glove can be slung off of the hand when the cuff has the free edge portion thereof-flared outwardly in a conventional manner. Thus, with this construction, the advantages of having the cuff snugged about the wrist of the wearer are obtained as are the advantages derived from having the glove easily slung off the hand without delay which is encountered when positive mechanical type fasteners are employed for snugging the cuff around the wrist of the wearer.

The foregoing is considered asillustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention 'to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed. 7

What is claimed as new is as-follows: I

1. In a glove construction, a cuff adapted to encircle the wrist area of a wearer in spaced relation thereto, said cuff being constructed of stiff but flexible material and being peripherally continuous, a pair of c'oacting fastener means attached to the cuff and exposed to the inner surface thereof, said fastener means releasably securing pe ripherally spaced areas of the inner surface of said cuff together thereby reducing the perimetrical dimension thereof for snugging the cuff around'the Wrist area of the wearer, said fastener means being capable of automatic release due to expansion forces engaged on the snugged cuff when the hand of the wearer isswung in an arcuate manner to sling off the glove construction, said fastener means being in the form of a pair of strips of flexible plush fabric havinghooks and loops to enable variation in the perimetrical dimension of the cuff.

References Cited JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. GEORGE v. LARKIN, Examiner. I 

